The African National Congress (ANC) has acknowledged its failures in municipalities, conceding that poor leadership, corruption, deteriorating infrastructure and unreliable service delivery have left communities frustrated ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections.
President Cyril Ramaphosa made the admission on Sunday as the ANC launched its 2026 Local Government Election Manifesto at a packed Diepsloot Riverside venue in Johannesburg, where about 30 000 supporters gathered ahead of the November 4 polls.
Addressing the crowd, Ramaphosa said the governing party would no longer attempt to explain away the frustrations of residents who continue to experience dry taps, uncollected refuse, potholes, broken streetlights and sewage spills.
“In too many municipalities, comrades, services are unreliable, infrastructure is deteriorating, and communities wait too long to have their problems solved,” Ramaphosa said.
He pointed to poorly maintained water treatment plants, ageing water infrastructure, persistent sewage spills and municipalities struggling financially.
He also acknowledged that some municipalities had been weakened by poor leadership, political instability, corruption and the appointment of people without the necessary skills to perform their duties.
“Now, as the ANC, we accept responsibility. Both for the progress that has been made, but we also accept responsibility for the failures and shortcomings where we govern,” he said.
“We will not mince our words and we will not run away from the reality that confronts our people.”
Ramaphosa said the ANC had listened to communities across the country and had heard their concerns about the state of local government.
“We will not seek to explain away the frustration of our people. We feel our people’s frustration,” he said.
“We will not dismiss the anger that our people feel. We will not ask communities to accept our excuses where they have a right to expect us to do more.”
The president said communities had told the party that while the ANC had policies and values, residents now wanted to see implementation and action.
Ramaphosa said the party’s manifesto was therefore built around six actions aimed at restoring confidence in local government and improving service delivery.
“They say we want to see that you improve our lives in municipalities. There should be reliability, there should be competence, we should have people who are serving us, people of integrity and people who have accountability,” he said.
The first commitment is to provide reliable and affordable basic services, including water, electricity, sanitation, roads and refuse removal.
Ramaphosa said municipalities would have to prioritise the maintenance and renewal of infrastructure over the next five years, including repairing leaks, eliminating sewage spills and improving wastewater treatment.
The ANC also plans to reduce municipalities’ dependence on consultants and contractors by rebuilding their technical, engineering and financial project-management capacity.
“The disease of outsourcing everything … we will want most of the services … [to be done by municipalities],” Ramaphosa said.
The party’s manifesto says it will progressively increase the capacity of municipalities to perform core functions while reducing their reliance on contractors.
The commitment comes amid years of criticism of municipalities for outsourcing basic services while struggling to maintain their own infrastructure and technical capacity.
Ramaphosa also pointed to the improvement in South Africa’s electricity supply, saying the country had gone more than 460 days without load shedding, while seven provinces were now free from load reduction.
He said the task now was to ensure that the improvement reached every household and business and that electricity remained reliable and affordable.
Water, however, remained a major concern.
“We know from time to time we face the challenge of water bursts, water unavailability, and our people at times go for days and weeks without water,” he said.
The ANC said it would invest in dams, pipelines and water treatment plants while repairing municipal networks and improving cooperation between national, provincial and local government.
Ramaphosa said the three spheres of government could no longer operate in isolation while communities suffered.
“The three spheres will work together as one government to serve our people,” he said.
The second action focuses on creating jobs and attracting investment closer to where people live.
Ramaphosa said municipalities should become centres of economic activity rather than obstacles to development.
He said every municipality should have an investment office to assist potential investors and identify opportunities within local economies.
“We want our municipalities to be centres of commerce, to be centres of business activity. We want our municipalities to attract investors,” he said.
The ANC plans to digitise municipal business services and improve turnaround times for planning approvals, building plans, rezoning and licences.
It also wants municipalities to identify areas of economic potential and support manufacturing, agro-processing, agriculture, tourism, fisheries, the creative economy and other growth sectors.
Ramaphosa said townships and rural areas should no longer simply function as places where people sleep before travelling elsewhere for work.
“We want places where we live to be economic hubs,” he said.
The third commitment focuses on safer streets, cleaner neighbourhoods and healthier communities.
The party says municipalities will have to maintain street lighting, parks, taxi ranks, cemeteries, sports facilities and community halls while addressing illegal dumping, neglected spaces and abandoned properties.
The ANC also pledged to work with the police, community policing forums, businesses, private security and residents to improve safety.
The fourth action centres on municipal finances.
The ANC says every rand collected from residents or transferred to municipalities must be protected from waste and corruption and directed towards service delivery.
The party has committed to improving billing and revenue collection, strengthening procurement and contract management and eliminating unfunded budgets.
It also wants municipalities to improve audit outcomes and recover public funds lost through maladministration and corruption.
The fifth action focuses on building municipalities that are “run well and honestly”.
The ANC says its councillors will be required to sign public performance agreements and codes of ethical conduct, undergo regular assessments and report to communities.
The party also says public representatives who fail to meet their responsibilities will be removed.
Mayors will be required to account publicly for audit outcomes, corrective action and progress in implementing recommendations from the Auditor-General.
Ramaphosa said leadership would ultimately determine whether municipalities succeed.
“Public office is not an entitlement, but it is a responsibility,” he said.
The sixth and final action is aimed at making municipalities more accountable and responsive to residents.
The ANC says communities must have a meaningful role in municipal priorities, plans, budgets and decisions, with councillors expected to maintain constituency programmes and remain accessible between elections.
The party also plans to introduce a tracking mechanism to monitor councillor performance and allow both communities and the ANC to institute corrective action where necessary.
Ramaphosa said ANC councillors and mayors would have to demonstrate progress within their first 100 days in office.
The manifesto comes as the ANC attempts to regain support ahead of an election in which its performance in municipalities is likely to come under intense scrutiny.
Ramaphosa said the party understood that it could not rely on its historical support.
“The ANC does not believe that the trust of the people can be inherited. But it must be earned,” he said.
He said the party would therefore be judged by whether it could turn its promises into tangible improvements in people’s daily lives.
“A tap that works, a light that stays on, and a street that is maintained are not luxuries,” Ramaphosa said.
“They are the basic promise of our municipalities.”
The ANC’s manifesto acknowledges that the party has fallen short in areas where it governs, while promising to restore confidence through what it describes as capable, ethical, financially sustainable and accountable local government.
With the local government elections scheduled for November 4, the party is now asking voters to give it another opportunity to deliver on those commitments.
Ramaphosa said the ANC would have to earn that opportunity through action.
“We humbly ask you to work with us, as we work to restore confidence and trust,” he said.